#BehindtheSelfie: Marcel Swain, marketing lead at Heineken

Pictured: Marcel Swain, marketing lead at Heineken. Image supplied.

Swain, known for his strong commitment to sustainability, plays a key role in the Heineken Waste to Wear project, which repurposes brewery waste into wearable products, supporting circular economy principles. 

He also spearheads the Heineken Green Zones in South Africa, which are community spaces focused on environmental education and conservation. 

His efforts aim to promote sustainability while making eco-friendly practices engaging and accessible.

Describe yourself in three words: 

1. Optimistic
2. Charismatic
3. Maverick

Describe your career up until this point

My career has been a phenomenal journey with opportunities to learn and grow as a commercial marketer, as well as gain the experiences that impacted my life from a personal point of view. 

I started my career in a non-profit organisation, where I learned the true meaning of zero-based budgeting (no budget) and gained a deep understanding of human behaviour. 

I then jumped ship and moved into the corporate world where I have spent over 18 years in FMCG. 

I was blessed to have worked on some world-class and renowned brands such as Dunhill, Gordons Gin, Savanna, Strongbow and, recently, Heineken.

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I’ve worked in numerous African markets such as Ghana, Nigeria, and Rwanda, to name a few, and even lived with my family in Amsterdam for four years while working at the Global office of Heineken International. 

Currently, I’m looking after premium beer brands for Heineken Beverages.

What are the three things you do to ensure a successful marketing campaign? 

1. Always thoroughly unpack a true consumer insight/barrier that the campaign or communication can overcome. 
2. Drive for radical collaboration with your partner agencies to achieve breakthrough creative.  
3. And be brave to take risks and fail forward!

Why is sustainability important to you?  

Sustainability is ensuring we have a future. 

It is broader than what we perceive it to be.

Sustainability is in production, packaging, how we consume and enjoy products/media, etc.  

We need to be looking around us at what we can do better, or differently, to have a lasting positive impact.  

What can brands do to make consumers adopt a more sustainable behaviour? 

While sustainability is not high up on the Maslow hierarchy of human needs, nor seen as an urgent priority for South Africans, it is becoming a growing need.  

When looking at macro trends, consumer behaviours and habits are changing rapidly, therefore it’s the responsibility of brands to focus on sustainability to influence (or change) consumers. 

This isn’t merely another marketing catchphrase. Sustainability is a real need. 

What are your desert island picks? (Book/show/gadget)

Not sure of a book but rather a podcast, which would be Diary of a CEO with Steven Bartlett. 

The show would be Love is Blind… uhm… joking or am I? 

But I would say Deadpool as my movie pick. 

And the gadget would be my JBL Bluetooth speaker for music, but then again, I would need another gadget, my phone, to play my music!

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Favourite song right now?

So difficult to decide as I have been going through a nostalgic phase.

I Want to Thank You by Alicia Myers. But more recently, Link Up by Ne-Yo and Fabolous.

What do you hope to have achieved at the end of your career? 

A sense of fulfilment - knowing I impacted others’ lives and shaped careers.